mercury thermometer broke in my sump

[dingo0722]

My thermometer broke in my sump and the mercury leaked out and is balled up on the bottom. Is this toxic to my fish? I first noticed it last night but thought they were air bubbles. Tonight I noticed they were still there. They should be easy enough to syphon out but how toxic is it to the fish and what if some of it was sucked into the return pump and mixed with the water.

 

[littleliza]

Mercury? I don't know if it's toxic to your fish, but it is definitely toxic to you! I'd guess it probably is for the fish, too.

 

[carshark]

Originally Posted by dingo0722
My thermometer broke in my sump and the mercury leaked out and is balled up on the bottom. Is this toxic to my fish? I first noticed it last night but thought they were air bubbles. Tonight I noticed they were still there. They should be easy enough to syphon out but how toxic is it to the fish and what if some of it was sucked into the return pump and mixed with the water.

umm swallow some mercury see what happens.. i dont even know how to start to tell you if there is anyway to salvage your tank from this point, not saying that it is a total loss for i have never dealt with this before, i would imagine not many have, im sorry to hear about this......what are your levels looking like right now??? :scared: :scared: :scared:

 

[carshark]

Originally Posted by Littleliza
Mercury? I don't know if it's toxic to your fish, but it is definitely toxic to you! I'd guess it probably is for the fish, too.

ive heard of certain fish not to eat so much of because of the mercury content, but that typically freshwater fish.. man i just dont know...

 

[lion_crazz]

I would definitely try to scoop/siphon as much out as possible and run a few extra bags of carbon to hopefully take it out of the water. Also, I would start making up some water so that you can do a water change in a few days as well. I would carry out a 25% water change just to help the carbon take some of it out of the water.

 

[littleliza]

wear some aqua gloves while you're in there, too... just to be a little safer

 

[littleliza]

http://education.yahoo.com/reference...entry/mercuryp
http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/training/mercury.htm
be careful, and good luck!

 

[ophiura]

I freaked out once when I worked at an aquarium and I broke a BIG mercury thermometer. But I learned that my managers broke several - in tanks - and I don't believe there were too many issues from what I could tell. And learned that my parents, in the old days, used to play with it. Its cool stuff...and they are still alive, BTW

So don't eat it, siphon it out or use an eyedropper to target it specifically.
There are several saltwater fish thought to have high levels of mercury - including many in the jack family (tuna, mackerel). However, if I recall they also compared the tissue to fish collected a hundred years ago and that are in museum collections...and the levels were basically similar. So whether it is a poisoning issue due to human polluting or certain fish for whatever reason have higher levels of mercury, it is a bit tought to tell. There are some animals that concentrate what we would consider "toxins" without much trouble.

 

[flux]

Mercury is a metal, so I would handle it like any other metal in your tank. I think the only reason its so dangerous to us is because of its low boiling point and ability to soak into your skin. If you can get it out before it starts leaching toxins into your water then I don’t think it should be any more dangerous then having a chunk of steal in your water. Unless your fish can directly come in contact with it.

 

[fallinmor]

definitly put in mega doses of prime and detoxify, just what i would do though

 

[dingo0722]

So I used a syringe the other night and vacumed out the mercury from my sump. All seems normal in the tank...except last night two of my fish laid eggs, hundreds of eggs. I guess they just needed a little mercury in their diet LOL
I am going to buy a digital thermometer now